Egyptian Doctor Who Cared for Fox News Reporter Vows 'Old Egypt' is Gone

LONDON--WhileIwatchedbackhomeinLondonthemomentouseventsinEgyptlastFriday,myBlackberrypinged.

Themessageseemedtosumupthewholestory.

Itstartedthisway:

"Subject:It'sdone....

DearMr.Palkot,



Whilewehavemetbefore,Idon'tthinkthatyouknowmyname.IamtheorthopedistthatexaminedyouinAl-Demerdash.

Ihopethatyouarenowingoodhealthandthatthatterribleordealishistory.Becausetonightisanightforhistory......"

FollowingtheattackoncameramanOlafWiigandmyself,wewerebroughttotheAl-DemerdashHospitalinCairowhereweweretreatedbydoctors,includingthisman,Al-MoatazBellahYoussef.

Duringourtimethere,theyoungmansaidlittleaboutthepoliticalupheavalbutaskedformycardwithmye-mailaddress.NowIknowwhy.

Inthenextpassagehedescribedhisemotionssurroundingtheregime'sfallandmakesreferencetoJanuary25th,thefirstdayoftheuprisingagainstthegovernment:

"...Ican'texpressmyjoyandecstasyaboutwhathappenedtoday.Iwouldn'thaveimaginedit.Iwastellingmymotheryesterday(thatisThursday,whentherumorswereflyingthatMubarakwillresign)thatIexpectedsomeonetowakemeupandtellmethatwearestillonthe24thofJanuary.

Afterthe25th,Egyptneverwasandneverwillbethesame.Weareinacrossroadsnow,butwehavecomethisfar.Ithinkwecanclearanyobstaclethatgetsintheway...."

AtthehospitalwewereputunderhousearrestandthenbroughttotheheadquartersoftheSecretPoliceforfurther"processing."

Inthenextparagraph,thedoctormakesreferencetothissideofwhathecallsthe"oldEgypt":

"...Youwon'tbeseeingthatoldEgyptagain.Wewillendtheemergencylaw,thedetentioncenters,thetorture,thepolicethugs,everything...

EverybadthingthatMubarakdidtodighisclawsdeeperintopowerwillbeundone.Justprayforus...."

WhilewehadatasteofthebadpeopleoftheMubarakregime,wemetmanymoreofthegoodpeopleofEgypt,includingthisyoungman,whotreateduswithcareandprofessionalism.

Here'showheclosedhismessagetome:



"...Ihopeyoucanreturnsoon.

IhopethatIseeyouagaininthenewEgypt.

Butnotinahospitalthistime!

Regards,


Al-MoatazBellahYoussef"



Ihopesotoo,Moataz.

Name a Giant Hissing Cockroach After Your Valentine

Wildlife Conservation Society

Show your loved one how much you care by naming a giant hissing cockroach after him or her.

“Flowers wilt. Chocolates melt. Roaches are forever.”

Ambitious Romeos looking to differentiate themselves from the typical diamonds, roses, and chocolates are in luck. The Bronx Zoo is offering a one-of-a-kind Valentine’s Day gift -- naming a gigantic hissing cockroach after a loved one.

The unique light-hearted gift, though gag-worthy, has deeper meaning to coincide with its shock value. The zoo’s famous Madagascar hissing cockroaches are part of an award-winning Zoo habitat that also includes lemurs, crocodiles, and many other unique species.

With a simple online form, each $10 gift comes with a colorful e-card sent to your loved one -- or favorite ex-girlfriend, bestowing upon them not only the honor of having a cute, loveable cockroach named after them, but also the satisfaction of knowing that the proceeds will go to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which helps save wildlife and wild places around the world.

"They're extraordinary, which means if you're cool about bugs, they're really cool,' a spokesman for the Wildlife Conservation Society, told FoxNews.com. "We've got about 50 or 60 thousand in a hollowed out tree."

Madagascar hissing cockroaches are the world’s largest roach species reaching nearly four-inches long. The hissing noise they make is a natural defense mechanism.

“Nothing says forever like a cockroach,” said Jim Breheny, Senior Vice President for Living Institutions and Director of the Bronx Zoo. “They are resourceful, resilient, and have been around for hundreds of millions of years.

Eagles name Castillo coordinator

PHILADELPHIA The Philadelphia Eagles searched far and wide for a new defensive coordinator. In the end, they found a familiar face right in their own backyard.

Juan Castillo, who spent 13 seasons as an Eagles offensive line coach and has been with the organization for 16 years, will switch over to the defensive side of the ball, and replace Sean McDermott, who was fired on Jan. 15. The team, which also added Howard Mudd as the new offensive line coach to replace Castillo, made the announcement on Wednesday.

"It's a tribute to the hard work, the diligence and the kind of football coach he is," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "I think if you have the opportunity to talk to any player, if you have an opportunity to talk to any coach that has been a Philadelphia Eagle, and many coaches throughout the league, what might seem a little strange is just a very confident move, and one that will take our defense to another level."

A former linebacker at Texas A&I (1978-80), Castillo, 51, played for the USFL's San Antonio Gunslingers (1984-85), and also was an assistant at Texas A&M-Kingsville from 1982-85.

"I think if you talk to the defensive guys, especially the front seven, I've always told them I'm a defensive guy who got stuck on the offensive side," Castillo said. "That took a lot of years of studying. That was a tough deal. What happens is you start to be perceived as an offensive guy."

Castillo is one of few NFL coaches of Hispanic descent. He is fluent in Spanish and has promoted the NFL product for its Spanish-speaking audience.

"Juan is one of the smartest and most dynamic coaches in the NFL," Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. "If anyone could cross over to the dark side (of defense), he's the guy. Seriously, if anyone can do it, Juan Castillo is able to do it. I don't know if I have seen anyone any more committed as a coach in this league than him."

Castillo joined the Eagles in 1995 as an offensive assistant under coach Ray Rhodes. He was promoted to tight ends coach in 1997, and then offensive line coach in 1998.

"I have a strong affinity for Juan going back to our days spent together in Philadelphia," Minnesota Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. "I can remember Jim Johnson and our defensive staff putting our game plans together and we'd always get together with Juan just to make sure they were sound in terms of pressures and blitzes. Sometimes, I felt like he was on our defensive staff. And to do this day, he and I talk every week during the season to talk about other offenses in the league."

Castillo was one of four members of Rhodes' staff to be retained by Reid in 1999.

"Great move by Coach Reid. Juan is a football junkie who has always studied the entire game," said St. Louis Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo, a former Eagles assistant. "He's a detailed, aggressive, and passionate football coach all attributes vital to coaching defense."

The Eagles won the NFC East this season, but lost to the eventual NFC-champion Green Bay Packers, 21-16, in the wild-card round at Lincoln Financial Field. After the dramatic, come-from-behind, 38-31 win over the New York Giants at The Meadowlands, they finished the year with three consecutive losses, all at home.

McDermott's defense finished 12th overall, giving up 327.2 yards per game.

Egypt Protests: Will the Real Mohammed ElBaradei Please Stand Up?

AP

Jan.27:FormerDirectorGeneraloftheInternationalAtomicEnergyAgency,IAEA,andNobelPeacePrizewinnerMohamedElBaradeitalkstomembersofthemediaashearrivesatCairo'sairportinEgypt,fromAustria.

Inthenameofdemocraticreform,MohammedElBaradeiisdoinghisbesttoappearastheannointedonetosucceedEgyptianPresidentHosniMubarek,shouldthegovernmentfall.Inreality,ElBaradeihasmoreincommonwithIraniandemagogueMahmoudAhmadinejadthananythingremotelyresemblingdemocracy.HeistheformerDirector-GeneraloftheInternationalAtomicEnergyAgency(IAEA),wherehisprimarylegacywasrunninginterferenceforIranandensuringthatIranisnowonthevergeofacquiringnuclearweapons.



Year-after-yearforadecade,ElBaradeiusedhispositionattheIAEAtostallfortimeonbehalfofIran.InSeptember2005ElBaradeihelpedpushtheissueofftheSecurityCounciltableandbragged:"IamencouragedthattheissuehasnotbeenreferredtotheSecurityCouncil,preciselytogivetimefordiplomacyandnegotiation."Typicalofhisfoot-draggingwashisFebruary2006report:"AlthoughtheAgencyhasnotseenanydiversionofnuclearmaterialtonuclearweaponsorothernuclearexplosivedevices,theAgencyisnotatthispointintimeinapositiontoconcludethattherearenoundeclarednuclearmaterialsoractivitiesinIran.Theprocessofdrawingsuchaconclusion...isatimeconsumingprocess."

InJanuary2007,inthemidstofgrowingcallsforsanctionsagainstIran,ElBaradeisuggesteda"time-out."InSeptember2007,withstiffersanctionsonthehorizon,ElBaradeiagaincalledfora"time-out."InJanuary2008theIAEAreported:"ElBaradeihasrepeatedlynotedthat...theIAEAhasnotseenanydiversionofmaterialtonuclearweaponsorothernuclearexplosivedevices."

AssoonasElBaradeiwasfinallyreplacedasIAEAheadearlylastyear,hissuccessorYukiyaAmanoattemptedtodistancehimselffromtheobviouscover-up.HeissuedareportinwhichtheIAEA,forthefirsttime,saidthingslike-onthebasisof"extensive"and"credible"informationtheIAEAnowhas"concernsaboutthepossibleexistenceinIranof...currentundisclosedactivitiesrelatedtothedevelopmentofanuclearpayloadforamissile,"and"concernsaboutpossiblemilitarydimensionstoIran'snuclearprogram.''



IfElBaradeiwereevertobecomePresidentofEgypt,notonlywouldhehavehelpedIranacquirenuclearweapons,hewouldundoubtedlyturnaroundandleadthechargeforanEgyptiannuclearweapon.NobelPrizenotwithstanding,hiscallingcardistocastnuclearproliferationassomekindofequalrightsgamebetweendevelopedanddevelopingcountries.

HereisthefrighteninginterviewhegavetotheFinancialTimesonFebruary19,2007thatindicatesthekindofIranianlook-alikewhichisinthemaking:“Iranseesenrichment...asastrategicgoalbecausetheyfeelthatthiswillbringthempower,prestigeandinfluence...[A]lotofthatistrue.Anuclearcapabilityisanucleardeterrentinmanyways...WhenyouseehereintheUKtheprogrammeformodernisingTrident,whichbasicallygetstheUKfarintothe21stcenturywithanucleardeterrent,itisdifficultthenforustoturnaroundandtelleverybodyelsethatnucleardeterrentsarereallynogoodforyou...”

ReportsoutofEgyptdirectlyconnectingElBaradei'spoliticalambitionswithTehransurfacedlastSeptemberviaapoliticalrival,AbdulMabboud.AstorytranslatedfromEgyptianNewspaperAlYoumAlSabehlastSeptembersaid:"inacommunicationtotheAttorneyGeneralofEgypt,Dr.YasserNajibAbdelMabboud,hasaccusedDr.MohamedElBaradei...ofreceivingfundsexceeding$7million(US)fromIran’sleadershipassupportfor‘politicalreforminEgypt’."Thestoryclaimedthat"thecheckintheamountof$7millionissaidtobemeanttocoverthefinancialcostsoftheelectioncampaignandtheactivitiesoftheFrontforChange."



Theshoesureseemstofit.ElBaradeitoldCNN'sFareedZakariaSundaythat:"TheMuslimBrotherhood...hasnothingtodowithextremism...[T]heyhavealotofcredibility...AndIhavebeenreachingouttothem."Actually,ElBaradei'scomrade-in-armsisaviciouslyantisemiticandanti-WesternorganizationthatwouldsendEgyptianwomenbacktothestoneagesandrupturepeaceagreementswithIsraelasawarm-upact.



IftheObamaadministrationthrowsMubarekoverboardintheimmediatefuturewithnothingbutanElBaradei-MuslimBrotherhoodfrontmaninthewings,Egyptianswillbefartherawayfromdemocracythantheyeverwereandtherestoftheworldwillbeafarmoredangerousplace

AnneBayefskyisaSeniorFellowattheHudsonInstituteanddirectoroftheTouroInstituteonHumanRightsandtheHolocaust.

From Disaster to Catastrophe -- What's Obama's Endgame In the Gulf?

To many along the Gulf Coast, the oil spill response is Katrina with a difference.

With Katrina, says Mark Riley, an official in Louisianas Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Department, the problem was that the federal government showed up with its hurricane bag and found a disaster.

This time, they showed up with oil spill bag and found a catastrophe.

And after a week surveying the federal response to this latest disaster, one certainly gets the impression that the feds, though anxious to help, have brought a knife to this shootout.

By law, the Coast Guard is responsible for coordinating Washingtons response to spills of national significanceSONS. And many Louisianans have a soft spot for the agency.

After Katrina, the blue-clad men and women of the Coast Guard were the firstand by all accounts, most effectivefederal responders on the scene. They rescued 33,000 people.

Just as Katrina was no ordinary hurricane, so Deepwater Horizon is no ordinary oil spill.

And the Coast Guard has never had to coordinate anything this big. The state was ready to go on day one. The Coast Guard was not.

Before the well exploded, the entire service had only about 150 oil spill experts. It takes nearly that many people to make coffee at the BP facility in Houma, La., that now serves as central command for recovery operations.

Seriously, the place is teeming with about 1,000 people. Before the explosion, the Coast Guard seldom thought about handling anything bigger than the next Exxon Valdez.

The entire Coast Guard only has about 50,000 active and reserves, and it seems most of them are on the Gulf. Still they are too fewand under-powered to deal with the BP mega corporation on one hand and the alphabet soup of federal agencies on the other.

As for the states theyre caught in the middle.

Compounding the problem: The Coast Guard is principally a sea service. Yet much of the disaster requires coordinating land operationslike moving, tracking and distributing five-million feet of boom to block, channel, or soak up spilled oil.

The Coast Guard is skilled at operating jointly with other military services and coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security.

But a lot of the essential partners in this operationfrom private contractors based in Alaska to auditors from BP corporateare people the Guard knows only by name badge or business card.

At Houma, the players wear different colored vestsgreen for finance, another color for operations, planning, safety and so onto indicate what they do.

Houma looks like a combination of angry blue-ant hill (the Coast Guard contingent) and a beehive of colored vests scurrying in every directionposting and pondering how to tackle every spill sighting.

Despite the buzz of activity, progress often seems glacial.

When a Louisiana Parish wants to do something, it must get permission by typing its request on an Internet site called the Web EOC. The request gets routed to the State Emergency Operations Center, but all Mark Riley can do is forward it to Houma.

There the Star Chamber of the Coast Guard and BP decide what is worth doing.

If a permit is required, the request gets handed to the Corps of Engineers, which proceeds to herd up all the federal cats needed to get sign-off.

If the request goes to the state National Guard, it gets routed to the state Joint Operations Center and from there to the unit.

To the states credit they have pressed BP and the Coast Guard to decentralize some of the response. Forward Operating Branches have now been established in the parishes for quick assessments and response, but it took weeks to get the Coast Guard to buy off on the idea.

In some cases, it seems, neither the state nor the Coast Guard can expedite the federal permitting process.

Louisiana pressed vigorously for permission to build rock dams at Grand Isle to block oil from drifting ashore. It took about a month to get an answer: No.

The locals were astonished. It was as though Eisenhower had asked to launch D-Day and on July 6, 1944, FDR called to say no.

Theres great wisdom in the water-cooler advice: Lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way. So far, Washington hasnt decided which course of action it will pick.

If the administration wants to lead, it should back the Coast Guard by sending in a senior political official commissioned to get all the federal agencies on war footing.

Unless it shifts gears and goes proactivefastthe administration risks turning a disaster into a full-blown catastrophe.

James Jay Carafano is senior research fellow for national security at The Heritage Foundation.

Fox Forum is on Twitter. Follow us @fxnopinion.

Top challenges for Linux kernel team outlined at LinuxCon

The biggest challenges for Linux going forward include addressingֲ next gen scalability and networking requirements.

Yet there are other social issues facing the Linux kernel community that outweigh any technological concerns, said several top developers at a LinuxCon panel on Tuesday.

Attracting talent to work on the kernel will be more challenging in the future, according to James Bottomley, a Linux kernel maintainer and 20-year distinguished engineer (SUSE) at Novell. ֲ Now that the kernel and Linux industry is mature, commercial opportunities have become far more appealing to new developers than kernel development, ֲ he maintains.

“The biggest problem is the trend to invisibility in the code,” Bottomley said. “Linux was once thought to be a great brand … [but]the kernel is a less sexy place to work.”

Red Hat’s Fedora kernel maintainer Dave Jones also noted that the complexity of the code is “daunting” for newcomers and the barrier to entry is much higher than in was when the kernel was in its infancy.

Linux Foundation fellow and new Google hire Ted Ts’o — who is said to be the first Linux kernel developer in North America - said the kernel is as robust these days as any other Unix kernel or any OS kernel out there.

Yet he sees scalability as one significant challenge for the Linux kernel (all kernels, really) with the “advent of very large numbers of CPUs on a chip. “We thought scalability was largely solved two years ago,” but multicore processing will impose more stringest demands going forward, he said, pointing out that low end laptops will boast 16 to 32 cores in no time.

The advent of next generation networking technologies including Infiniband will also impose technical challenges for the team, Ts’o said.

Browse and download available Windows Phone 7 apps with MarketplaceBrowser

Earlier this month I wrote about a feature on Bing that lets you not only browse through all available Windows Phone 7 apps, but also see a current count of them.

Well, Paul Willen, a passionate Windows Phone user and editor at MobilityMinded found limitations in Microsoft’s Bing implementation, the on-board Windows Phone search for apps and the Zune Desktop and has created his own solution: MarketplaceBrowser.com. The site itself is in its infancy but it already boasts more apps (currently numbering 2436) than the Bing Search (2383 as of this writing). In addition, MarketplaceBrowser features a Top 100 and the ability for users to click a download button, which launches the Zune Desktop software.

I think this site has a lot of potential. You can easily search for anything you want and / or click the category you’re interested in. You are then presented with some screenshots, some information about the apps, and even the ability to share or comment about the app.

If you’re looking for some Windows Phone apps, or want to see what’s out there before you pick up a Windows Phone, MarketplaceBrowser is definitely worth a look.

Groupon India announced with acquisition of SoSasta

The currentย  Silicon Valley favorite raised $950 Million from investors after rejecting a $6 Billion bid from Google. Two year old Groupon has been the talk with their phenomenal growth. Groupon offers collective buying of coupons to products and services provided by offline merchants which allows them to bridge the viral Internet with the brick and mortar stores. Being in this position Groupon seems to have figured out a useful Internet advertisement model.

Googleโ€™s interest in the company validates their title as one of the hottest Internet business as of now. With the new round of VC money, Groupon has decided to expand their operations to India, South Africa and Israel by acquiring websites that offer local deals in all three countries:

• Groupon India with the purchase of SoSasta.com
• Groupon South Africa by acquiring Twangoo.co.za
• Groupon Israel by acquiring Grouper.co.il

The three websites will transitioning to Groupon branding in coming months. Rob Solomon, Groupon COO said, โ€œCollective buying is in its infancy in India, Israel and South Africa and we see strong potential. Groupon is shaping the way local merchants market themselves in every corner of the world.โ€

Grouponโ€™s expansion is crucial since it is fairly possible to assume Facebookโ€™s interest in the market segment. Facebook has a large (social) user base and with products like Places where they are partnering with local stores it wonโ€™t be a surprise if we saw Mark Zuckerberg announcing a service that will allow you and your friends to buy coupons to products based on your interests. With the amount of data that Facebook mines through finding similarities between your friends and suggesting offers is within the realm of possibility.

Smart move by Groupon.

Update: Groupon’s Press release can be found here.

Second chance for Africa's Buena Vista Social Club

Eliades Ochoa says he can hear the Cuban influence in lots of African music

When newly independent Mali became a socialist state in the 1960s, Cuban music was actively promoted in Mali.

"We were very good friends with Fidel Castro," says Tounkara.

"Cuban music was on LP records, you took your guitar and you learned it. There are bits where you feel that it's come from Africa, it's almost the same rhythms."

In fact, you can hear the Cuban influence in much African music - from Congo to Senegal.

While the Malian musicians were well schooled in Cuban sounds, Cuban guitar player Eliades Ochoa admits his knowledge of Malian music is a little shakier.

"I can't tell whether the music is from Mali or from some other part of Africa, but I love African music," he says.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

A lot of the Cuban songs are humorous double entendre songs, which was slightly lost on the Malians”

End Quote
Nick Gold
Producer of AfroCubism

"In any African music we feel something, there is an atmosphere which makes us think about Cuban music."

Another Buena Vista?

One stumbling block in the studio was language. The Malians speak French and English, the Cubans Spanish.

Another player on the album was Toumani Diabate, the virtuoso master of the kora, a West African harp. He explains how they found common ground.

"The note F on the guitar is the same F on the kora, same on the ngoni, same on the balafon [xylophone]," he says.

"And it's the same in London, same in Bamako, same in Cuba. So the music has created its own language, it doesn't have any borders."

The lyrical gap was harder to bridge.

"A lot of the Cuban songs are humorous double entendre songs, which was slightly lost on the Malians," says Gold.

"And the Malian songs are all much deeper songs about fate and going very in-depth into their legends, so there were raised eyebrows at each others' songs."

The sessions have now been released as an album under the name AfroCubism, and a world tour is underway.

So can they hope to replicate the success of Buena Vista Social Club?

That was the result of a perfect storm: The story of the veteran musicians caught the world's attention, aided by the documentary film by Wim Wenders.

The album was also released when music downloading was in its infancy, and CD sales were at their peak.

But Tounkara is undeterred.

Talking about whether the original success can be repeated, there is a twinkle in his eye and he laughs a long, warm laugh.

"This project is really good, and I want this one to sell more than the first one."

Ghana bans second-hand knickers

Many clothes sold in markets in Ghana are second hand and imported from Europe

Continue reading the main story

Related stories

• Country profile: Ghana
• The clothes line
• Used pants ban in Tanzania

Market traders in Ghana will be banned from selling second-hand underwear from next February, trade regulators say.

According to the Ghana Standards Board, used pants - and other second-hand goods like handkerchiefs and mattresses - are unhygienic and could pose a health hazard.

The importation of these items was banned in 1994 but never implemented.

Some traders in a market in the capital, Accra, told the BBC they were unhappy the move might affect business.

The BBC's David Amanor in the city says there is a lot of consumer demand for second-hand clothing, often imported from Europe, as it is cheaper than locally produced items.

It is the same in many African countries.

Stained goods

"Ghana is a third world country; we've been doing this all along, so why are they talking about a ban now?" Millicent, a trader in Kantamanto Market in central Accra, told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

"The authorities should think again because our livelihoods are at stake."

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

I never fell sick because of used clothes”

End Quote
Doris
Kantamanto Market shopper

Cynthia, another market trader, defended the business.

"Second-hand underwear and other clothes we sell here at Kantamanto Market are better quality than new undies in the stores," she said.

She admitted that some of the imported underwear was stained but said customers rummage through the piles and inspect goods before buying.

"No matter how poor the person is, they will not chose stained ones and we throw them away," she said.

One trader insisted that all the goods she sold had been disinfected.

Our reporter says second-hand clothing is often referred to as "obroni wewu", which literally translates as "white man's deads".

Some customers also seemed dismayed by the news of the forthcoming ban, he says.

"I've been wearing 'obroni wewu' all my life from infancy - all the clothes you see on me today from up to down are 'obroni wewu' - and I never fell sick because of used clothes," says Doris, a shopper at Kantamanto Market.

The Ghana Standards Board has re-iterated that it is not all used clothes that are banned.

It says an education campaign is under way to ensure that dealers in second-hand comply with the law before the ban comes into effect.

Computer firm Iomart profits from cloud networks

Iomart said the trend was for companies to outsource technology

Continue reading the main story

Related stories

• Iomart buys Titan Internet firm
• Strong profits for internet firm
• Iomart achieves 'major milestone'

Internet web hosting firm Iomart has announced a big increase in pre-tax half year profits, to £1.16m from £517,000 last year.

Glasgow-based Iomart said it had seen a shift in its customers towards cloud computing networks.

Cloud computing uses distant servers to provide services which were traditionally done with software installed on individual computers.

Iomart said it had grown the "size and quality" of its customer base.

Earlier this year Iomart bought a rival firm Titan Internet for £4.2m, which managed more than 1,000 servers.

Iomart said the deal brought to the group "a very good customer base and an extremely competent workforce".

The firm said it had responded to the increase in demand for cloud hosting solutions.

The company's chief executive Angus McSween said: "We have won more than 200 new orders in the period, through our Iomart Hosting division, which provides complex hosting solutions to the corporate market, many of which involve the provision of virtual solutions."

The company said it was optimistic about the future.

Mr McSween added: "The fundamental shift from companies buying technology and managing it in-house to outsourcing it as a flexible service from strong, trusted suppliers is in its infancy.

"We are in a market set to grow significantly over the next few years and with a strong asset base and the expertise to deliver a complex set of cloud services, we expect to continue the growth we have enjoyed recently."

Euro woes give EU's Lisbon Treaty baptism of fire

Germany's Chancellor Merkel (left) gave new impetus to the treaty negotiations in 2007

Continue reading the main story

Related stories

• How do EU institutions work?
• Power to the people EU-style
• Barroso deplores EU budget blow

For many of the EU's citizens, facing job insecurity and public service cuts, the Lisbon Treaty's first birthday this week is hardly cause for celebration.

The treaty's troubled infancy is blighted by deep fissures in the 27-nation EU and a determination already to change the text - however unpalatable that is after eight gruelling years of negotiations.

Harsh economic reality has dashed hopes that Lisbon, in all its complexity, would be the treaty to end all EU treaties, for a good few years at least.

The sad aftermath of the financial meltdown is a far cry from the vision that inspired Lisbon - a vision of well-oiled EU machinery powering a new-generation vehicle for European unity and prosperity, fit for the 21st Century.

The main goal was to streamline decision-making in a union built around slow-moving consensus politics.

During the years when EU leaders were labouring over the treaty eurozone bail-outs were far from their minds.

But this year has seen emergency bail-outs of debt-laden Greece and the Irish Republic - and fears that Portugal and Spain may be next.

Legal minefield

The treaty did not spell out a mechanism for such rescues - hence the calls for treaty change, led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The Maastricht Treaty, which launched monetary union, contained a "no bail-out" clause. Now incorporated into Lisbon, it puts the new bail-outs in a legal grey area.

Continue reading the main story

LISBON TREATY

• Created two new top jobs - EU Council president and EU foreign affairs chief
• Boosted powers of European Parliament, making co-decision with governments the norm
• Paved way for new EU diplomatic service, headed by UK's Baroness Ashton
• Took eight years of tough negotiation, including two Irish referendums

• Q&A: The Lisbon Treaty

Before Lisbon had been fully ratified last year the Liberal Democrat MEP Andrew Duff predicted that if a bail-out became necessary to save the eurozone "it will certainly be necessary to revise the treaty rules of the monetary union".

At all costs EU leaders will want to avoid triggering court challenges or referendums on the treaty again. The years of Lisbon wrangling led to a chorus of complaints about EU "navel-gazing".

The treaty change - probably a case of just a few words - can be done by the EU governments legally under a fast-track procedure. But it will still have to be ratified by the national parliaments.

One option would be to expand Article 122 of the treaty, which says EU funds can be used to help a member state "seriously threatened with severe difficulties caused by natural disasters or exceptional occurrences beyond its control".

But lawyers may well argue about whether the change involves a clarification of existing EU powers or a new transfer of power to the EU.

EU leaders may agree on the amendment as early as this month, but they will be nervous about the Irish Republic - just as they were last year, when the Irish held a second referendum on the treaty.

The bail-out has left the ruling Irish coalition looking shaky and Irish ratification of any treaty change "can't be taken for granted in the current climate", according to Marco Incerti, an analyst at the Centre for European Policy Studies (Ceps).

Brussels muscles

The eurozone crisis has however provided a golden opportunity for European Council President Herman Van Rompuy to stamp his authority.

As the EU's first permanent president - a major innovation under Lisbon - he took charge of a special task force on economic governance, to give the EU a crisis mechanism for tackling threats to the euro.

The softly-spoken former Belgian prime minister was seen by some as a colourless consensus figure when he got the job last year.

He was contrasted with Tony Blair, a statesman who could, in the words of former UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband, "stop the traffic in Beijing".

But quietly, behind the scenes, Mr Van Rompuy has been "appropriating more powers for himself", Marco Incerti says.

The eurozone crisis and the difficult negotiations over the EU's 2014-2020 budget show the importance of having a permanent president steering the ship, a senior official in the Belgian EU presidency told the BBC.

Lisbon was intended to give the EU more continuity of policy, reducing the disruption caused when member states take it in turns to run EU affairs every six months.

But a British Conservative MEP, Syed Kamall, says Mr Van Rompuy's new role at the hub of EU economic governance suggests "a more integrationist agenda - it rings alarm bells".

Parliament packs a punch

Lisbon also significantly enhanced the European Parliament's powers - and MEPs are flexing their new muscles.

An early sign of their new clout was the Swift deal on US anti-terror investigators' access to European bank data, where MEPs negotiated extra privacy safeguards for EU citizens.

But MEPs are still feeling their way as Lisbon beds in, Mr Kamall says, and they should avoid "showing power for the sake of it".

Tough negotiations can be expected soon over agriculture and regional aid - big budget areas where MEPs' powers have not really been tested yet.

The wrangling over the 2011 budget, with MEPs at odds with EU governments, may be just a foretaste of bigger clashes to come.

Aberystwyth University bid to develop 'learning' robots

Theories about how humans learn will be tested on iCub

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Scientists are taking part in an international project to develop robots which can "learn" like children.

Academics at Aberystwyth University have taken delivery of the iCub robot, which has a range of motions like a child.

Theories about how humans learn will be tested on iCub and, if they are successful, could be used to develop other robots.

Italian, Swiss and German scientists are also working on the project.

The aim of the IM-CLeVeR (Intrinsically Motivated Cumulative Learning Versatile Robots) project is to develop robots that can learn just like people.

The 5.9m euro (£4.9m) scheme, funded by the European Union, includes 10 institutions from around Europe, including the universities of Sheffield and Ulster.

The Aberystwyth team has received £760,000.

Scientists working in fields including robotics, neuroscience, developmental psychology and machine learning are taking part.

Dr James Law of Aberystwyth University, which will test and demonstrate certain theories about how humans learn, said: "Humans learn very, very well and most of that learning occurs during infancy, so if we can understand how that works then we could use these principles to develop robots.

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With this robot we can investigate how infants progressively build their skills...”

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Dr James Law
Aberystwyth University

"At the moment, robots in places like factories are programmed to work in strict environments, but we want them to learn in more flexible ways than those programmed using traditional methods.

"We want a robot to learn for itself, so when it is in a workplace and hears a sound or sees something that interests them they can learn from it."

Dr Law said if the project worked, the robots with human skills could work in residential homes or hospitals, but he refused to speculate on the sort of jobs they could do.

Aberystwyth University has been working on projects to build robots that respond and make decisions like humans for a few years, and Dr Law said that research would be used to inform the latest scheme.

The iCub robot, which was built in Italy, has similar motion to a young child. Researchers at Aberystwyth will use it as a platform to test and demonstrate their theories.

Dr Law said: "Development in infancy is strongly linked to the body of the child.

"With this robot we can investigate how infants progressively build their skills, using their bodies to manipulate and learn about their environment."

19/365 - Mauve/blue Daisies